Not too long ago, a good friend of mine shared that she and her husband had decided to try the Keto diet. We spent a whole evening talking about how it was going and the various challenges. Snacking can be really tough, and a lot of people get in a rut of cheese and salami. We just aren't trained as Americans to grab vegetables for a snack.And while it would probably be best to re-train ourselves to eat more vegetables as snacks, or just to skip snacking all together perhaps, I had some … [Read more...]
Stop Paying Whole Foods to Prep For You: 10 Time Saving Tips for Eating Keto or AIP
When you start a new restrictive diet like Keto, or in our case the Autoimmune Paleo/Protocol diet (AIP), it can be hard on both the brain and the schedule.You are suddenly making all sorts of food you are not used to, typically a wider variety and quantity of vegetables than ever before, which means meal planning takes so much more thought and so many more minutes (or hours) at the cutting board.I have a love-hate relationship with diets like this because although they are so much work … [Read more...]
Real Food Thanksgiving Feast — all the recipes you’ll need for an alternative T-day meal!
We all love turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes. But sometimes it's nice to change things up a bit. Why not green smoothies and pork chops for Thanksgiving!?I've joined forces with some power-bloggers and did my part in a real food holiday feast, a collection of scrumptious, healthy recipes to spice up your Thanksgiving meal (or any special feast or potluck...or weekday dinner, why not?).Here are all the real food Thanksgiving feast gems in one place! Thanksgiving Breakfast: Pumpkin … [Read more...]
How to Read the New Nutrition Facts Labels
Often one of the first suggestions when you're trying to get healthy is to read labels. It's something I suggest myself, especially when it comes to finding sugar and understanding just how much you are eating.But sometimes, it feels like you need a degree in nutrition fact label reading just to understand it all!The FDA is rolling out some changes to the required nutrition labels which are supposed to clarify some previously confusing portions and be more transparent and easy to … [Read more...]
I Bet I Could Have Been Diagnosed with Depression
People say when you're depressed, you feel flat. You don't find enjoyment in what you used to, and you feel like nothing matters.Something that should get you excited might just raise an eyebrow, and you can't dredge up the energy to care about much of anything.A while back, I questioned my mental health status here and there, but honestly? I didn't have time or energy to deal with it. This summer, I've been working hard on my own health. I did a lot of testing and uncovered a number of … [Read more...]
Real Food Spooky Halloween Shepherd’s Pie
I was the cool mom last year for Halloween.Not only did I let my kids have more than one piece of candy in a day, but I also made a really cool dinner, appropriate to the season: Sometimes, even stuffy, boring adults like me have to let loose and do something fun (like make Shepherd's pie into dinner with mashed potato ghosts on top).A casserole, soup or chili (Recipe available in The Everything Beans Book) is a great idea for Halloween, since they can all be made ahead … [Read more...]
Earthley Natural Health Products {Giveaway}
October is always a touchy time for those women in the Natural Health world. We, of course, want women to be as healthy as possible, and we would do anything to avoid breast cancer and cure it for someone in that awful situation.But we also have to be honest that seeing processed food companies towing the party line of pink for breast cancer awareness is worse than an oxymoron.In fact, a few years ago, I shared a meme on Facebook that remains the most popular Facebook update in the … [Read more...]
Easy Hamburger Helper Substitute! Gluten-Free & Instant Pot Options
I hate when plans fail but sometimes even my best intentions to meal plan fail me. When dinner time is fast approaching and I have NOTHING to make I know I can use my Instant Pot to cook frozen hamburger and make this easy dinner possible! Over the years of our healthy living journey, my "I'm-not-going-to-buy-this-anymore" decisions have hit some nerves. For example.Hamburger Helper. I knew it was bad stuff: MSGs, trans fats, HFCS, white pasta, ETC. There's not much in the ingredient … [Read more...]
Is Food Causing You to be Depressed? What You Didn’t Know About How Food Affects Your Mood
If you can't view the video above, click Teaching Kids to Cook May Help Prevent Anxiety and Depression to see it directly on YouTube. Here's the thing about food and mood - a lot of people don't believe that what we eat can be the root cause of how we feel, especially when it comes to big issues like depression and anxiety. But if you think about it in a practical way, it's only too obvious (and painful, especially if you've ever tried to cook healthy food while in the throes of … [Read more...]
All the Fall Recipes You’ll Need This Season
Are you ready for fall recipes to eat local, seasonal vegetables?One of the things I love best about living in Michigan is that we have all four seasons (sometimes three in one day, I often joke).The changing of the calendar, the weather, and the clothing brings with it great comfort, and there’s always something fresh and new to look forward to for breakfast, lunch and dinner when you eat seasonally.I love an autumn filled with soups, chili, and cold weather root vegetables. And … [Read more...]
7 Fast Acting Natural Remedies for Growing Pains in the Middle of the Night
How is it that my naturally raised kids who are always the shortest in their class wake up in the middle of the night with growing pains all the time?I'm ever grateful when it's just a sore knee and not an ear infection that has caused them to cry out, but I still want to help them get relief and get all of us back to sleep as soon as possible.It turns out this isn't Murphy's Law of parenting at it again, but that "Growing Pains" itself is a misnomer. Growing pains don't actually have … [Read more...]
Dinner for a Dollar: The 20 Ingredients You Need to Cook Simple, Healthy Meals
This is a guest post from Steph Jenkins, author of Dinner for a Dollar. “I would love to eat healthier, but it’s just so expensive.” How many times have you thought that? This is a problem every health-conscious human who lives on a budget has to face. You are not alone. When my husband and I created our first "now we're married" budget, we had $25 a week for food. This would not have been a problem if we wanted to live on freeze-dried noodles and peanut butter laced with hydrogenated … [Read more...]
20 Easy Ways to Eat, Preserve and Freeze Apples – with No Sugar!
Apple season is here! If you can buy in bulk, you'll want to make lots of healthy recipes PLUS preserve apples for later - read on for instructions for freezing, canning, and dehydrating apples in multiple ways plus our best real food apple recipes!If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, how many doctors are bored because we’re averaging 2-3 per person around here this fall?Most people would probably be rolling in the leaves this time of year.Not our family.We're rolling in … [Read more...]
The Busy Mom’s Guide to Getting Real Food on the Breakfast Table
Figuring out fast, healthy breakfast ideas for kids and families is hard enough - but do working moms have even less time to cook than stay-at-home moms?I'm going to leave that up for debate – but the fact of the matter is, whether you're rushing to get kids off to school or rushing to get yourself to work and everyone to daycare, mornings are hectic and harried for most American families.Today's post is jam-packed with strategies to fight against the busy-ness and find a way to get real … [Read more...]
10 Snacks your Preschooler Can Make Today
The proud look on my little ones' faces when they make something for the family (or themselves) to eat is none other than priceless.And it's even cuter the younger they are!Although my big kids can do quite a lot in the kitchen and have quite a list of recipes they can make, what about the 2, 3 and 4-year-old crowd? It doesn't seem like they can do much in the kitchen other than dump ingredients and help stir while an adult is baking…but I believe they can do so much more.With a few … [Read more...]
Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle: Over $2000 in Natural Health Resources, 6 days only!
I had a little...incident...last week.I may have scared my 3-year-old into thinking I was going to die, but it wasn't my fault. I am not sure I had any brain cells left.Just watch (I won't be offended if you laugh):Y'all.That was WAY too much sneezing!But because I love to be a human experiment, I chose to try to treat myself only using the 2018 Ultimate Healthy Living Bundle.Check the video for how *horrible* I look and sound (and felt!) and after 30 minutes, … [Read more...]
The Truth About Coconut Oil: Is it Good For You?
How do you use coconut oil? For baking and cooking (can it sub for canola?)? Or for personal care like lotion, eye makeup remover, eczema treatment, oil pulling and more. When I first started getting into traditional nutrition, I read about coconut oil. I was surprised how often I ran into it, and I didn't even know what it was (was it liquid or solid???), but I was curious to see if I could figure out how to use it and if we would like it. Refined vs. Unrefined Coconut Oil There are … [Read more...]
No Waste Food on the Go with Reusable Sandwich and Snack Bags {REVIEW}
Hi, I'm Katie, and I'm a reusable snack bag junkie.It's true.Now that I've been using reusable sandwich and snack bags regularly for over eight years, it's not even weird anymore...to me.Every so often, I see myself through someone else's eyes as I unzip a cloth bag full of trail mix or perhaps allergy-free pumpkin muffins, and I wonder what they are thinking. Reusable bags, in general, are much more mainstream than when I started using them (love that!!), so it may not be the first … [Read more...]
Xylitol, Erythritol, Sorbitol…What’s That "ol" About?
Sweeteners that have been around for centuries like sorghum syrup and maple syrup are a delicious way to satisfy your sweet tooth with a few health benefits too. But what about the new sweeteners we keep hearing about? I probably get more questions about this category of sweeteners than any other sweetener out there and for good reason. They're called sugar alcohols, but they're not sugar, and they're not alcohol.You may have seen xylitol in your chewing gum or toothpaste and … [Read more...]
Homemade Whole Wheat SOFT Tortillas and Other Healthy Tortillas
We're going out on the town for Mexican food since we love salsa, beans and rice, and smoky Mexican soup…just kidding. We're actually sharing a recipe for the best ever homemade whole wheat tortillas with all the tips I've picked up over the years. Now my kids even know how to make them!People are generally pretty impressed with an adult who makes homemade tortillas from scratch. And homemade 100% whole wheat tortillas are even another step up.We know how to make great homemade … [Read more...]
